Excite Bike 3D to be offered for free, Vitality Sensor won't die, still pushing Wii and more...

While Satoru Iwata addressed investors in Tokyo this morning for Nintendo's earnings briefing, details on what went down haven't taken long to slip out. The following originates from Nintendo Everything, with some of it reinforced by Andriasang, but none of it is officially confirmed yet, so take anything saucy with a pinch of salt.

Firstly, Nintendo will kick off the Virtual Console service on 3DS in "late May" with a beastly firmware update that will introduce the eShop. Initially, Game Boy and Game Boy Colour titles will be made available, but Nintendo are already looking into adding more platforms in the future. In addition, a range of "3D Classics" will grace the service, with an updated, 3D version of Excite Bike to be offered as a free download (in Japan, at least). This is all part of Nintendo's strategy to aggressively push the wireless networking features of the 3DS.

One first-party 3DS title was specifically brought up: Masahiro Sakurai's Kid Icarus: Uprising. According to Iwata, Uprising can expected late summer or soon after, with the implication being very much the latter. Iwata reiterated that the timing of Nintendo's own software releases are planned around third-party efforts, which is presumably why we haven't seen any killer apps from the company during the 3DS' launch window.

Rather intriguingly, the curiously-absent Vitality Sensor also earned a mention. The pulse oximeter-like Wii device was originally unveiled at E3 2009, but has barely been mentioned by a Nintendo exec since. According to Iwata, the Vitality Sensor is still in development and being refined. It is whispered in some circles that, while Nintendo have gotten the device to work with most people, there is still difficulty in getting it to work well enough with a satisfactory percentage of people.

As for the software side of things, Nintendo are still in the business of pushing the Wii. It is believed that Nintendo themselves will release about one new Wii title a month in Japan from now on, with Pandora's Tower, GoldenEye 007, Wii Play Motion, Rhythtm Tengoku, Kirby and Zelda all on the agenda for the foreseeable future.

Finally, Iwata seemingly confirmed that the company will not release a machine without buttons, as Nintendo's ethos is very much that gaming requires such tactile input.